And that continued into the knockout rounds‚ with five of the 11 goals scored coming from either free-kicks or corners.

Overall‚ 42 percent of goals in the World Cup have come from set plays or penalties‚ beating the previous record of 36 percent from the 1998 World Cup and smashing the portion of goals from these situations in 2014 (27 percent)‚ 2010 (24 percent)‚ 2002 (29 percent) and 1994 (33 percent).

England reached the semi-finals for the first time in 28 years with the help of eight goals from set-pieces‚ more than any other side in the tournament‚ including three penalties.

SEMI SUCCESS

France will be appearing in the World Cup semifinals for the sixth time‚ with mixed success in previous visits to this stage of the competition.

Their first semifinals was in 1958 when they were outclassed by Brazil as Pele scored a hat-trick and the South Americans won 5-2.

They had to wait until 1982 for their next semifinal‚ but this time lost to West Germany 5-4 on penalties after the teams had been locked at 3-3 in an absolute classic.

Four years later they were back‚ playing the West Germans again‚ and they lost once more‚ this time a routine 2-0 success for their opponents.

But the last two times they have been semifinalists they have enjoyed success‚ beating Croatia 2-1 in 1998 as they went on to lift the trophy‚ and beating Portugal 1-0 in 2006 when they lost to Italy in the decider.

TOGETHERNESS

Belgium coach Roberto Martinez believes his side’s run to the semifinals of the World Cup has a lot to do with the same group of core players having been together since playing for the country’s junior national teams.